Launch checklist for a client site

Run through this list before you point the domain at the new site. Each item takes a minute or two, and together they catch most of what goes wrong on launch day.

Content

• Every page has a title that says what the page is about, and a meta description. The SEO panel checks both as you edit.
• Images have alt text. The panel lists the ones that don't.
• Placeholder text and test entries are gone. Search for "lorem" and for your own test names.
• The 404 page says something useful and links back to the main pages.
• Legal pages are in place, with the correct company details.

Technical

• The site URL in settings is the production URL. Canonical links and the sitemap are built from it.
• Run a full build after changing it, so every page carries the new address.
• Redirects from the old site's addresses are in place, under SEO in the admin.
• /sitemap.xml lists the pages you expect, and nothing else.
• /robots.txt doesn't block anything by accident, including AI crawlers you want to allow.
• HTTPS is on, and the plain HTTP address redirects to it.

Forms and mail

• Each form sends to the right mailbox. Submit every one of them once, for real.
• Mail settings are for production, and a test mail arrives.
• Form submissions land in the inbox, and spam checks are switched on.
• A webhook, if you use one, points at production rather than staging.

Before you hand over

• Your client has their own login, with an editor role rather than your admin account.
• You have shown them working copies, preview links and publishing.
• Any paid plugin has its licence activated for the public domain. Local and staging hosts never needed one.
• You know who owns those licences, and it's written down in your handover notes.

After launch

• Open the site in a private window, on a phone, and read one page from top to bottom.
• Check analytics the next day, to be sure page views are being counted.
• Run the site through the SEO checks in the dashboard and fix anything that comes up.

Next, read handing over a site to a client.